Carrots, Egg and Coffee Monday
Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>
"Carrots, Egg and Coffee Monday"
A young woman went to her mother and told her about
her life and how things were so hard for her. She did
not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.
She was tired of fighting and struggling. It
seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three
pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon
the pots came to boil. In the first she placed
carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the
last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit
and boil, without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.
She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do
you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.
She did and noted that they were soft. The mother
then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.
After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard
boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to
sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its
rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it
mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had
faced the same adversity ... boiling water. Each
reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard,
and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to
the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The
egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had
protected its liquid interior, but after sitting
through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After
they were in the boiling water, they had changed the
water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When
adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems
strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and
become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a
breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial,
have I become hardened and stiff? Does my
shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and
tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually
changes the hot water, the very circumstance that
brings the pain When the water gets hot, it releases
the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean,
when things are at their worst, you get better and
change the situation around you. When the hour is the
darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate
yourself to another level? How do you handle
adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,
enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to
keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the
best of everything; they just make the most of
everything that comes along their way. The brightest
future will always be based on a forgotten past; you
can't go forward in life until you let go of your past
failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone
around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end,
you're the one who is smiling and everyone
around you is crying. So to those people who mean something to
you ; to those who have touched your life
in one way or another; to those who make you smile
when you really need it; to those who make you see the
brighter side of things when you are really down; to
those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who
are so meaningful in your life.
It's easier to build a child than repair an adult.
"Who's Your Daddy?"
A number of years ago a seminary professor was vacationing with
his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee where they were eating
breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet family
meal.
While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a
distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to
table visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and
whispered to his wife:
"I hope he doesn't come over here." But sure enough, the man
did come over to their table.
"Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly voice.
"Oklahoma," they answered.
"Great to have you here in Tennessee," the stranger said.
"What do you do for a living?"
"I teach at a seminary," he replied.
"Oh, you teach preachers how to preach? Well, I've got a really
great story for you." And with that, the gentleman pulled up a
chair and sat down at the table with the couple.
"See that mountain over there?" (pointing out the restaurant
window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a
boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up,
because every place he went, he was always asked the same
question:
'Hey boy, Who's your daddy?'
Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store,
people would ask the same question, "Who's your daddy?"
He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other students.
He would avoid going in to stores because that question hurt him
so bad.
When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his
church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid
hearing the question, "Who's your daddy?" But one day, the
new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and
had to walk out with the crowd.
Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher
not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and
asked him,
"Son, who's your daddy?"
The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in
the church looking at him. By now, everyone knew the answer to
the question, 'Who's your daddy?'
This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and
using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the
following to that scared little boy...
'Wait a minute!' he said, 'I know who you are. I see the family
resemblance now. You are a child of God.'
With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said:
'Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.'
With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time
and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same
again. Whenever anybody asked him, 'Who's your Daddy?' he'd
just tell them,
'I'm a Child of God.'
The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said,
"Isn't that a great story?"
The professor responded that it really was a great story!
As the man turned to leave, he said,
"You know, if that new preacher hadn't told me that I was one of
God's children, I probably never would have amounted to
anything!" And he walked away.
The seminary professor and his wife were stunned.
He called the waitress over and asked her,
"Do you know who that man was who just left who was sitting at
our table?" The waitress grinned and said,
"Of course. Everybody here knows him. That's Ben Hooper.
He's the former governor of Tennessee!"
by Dr. Fred Craddock
Seminary professor of homiletics at Emory University in Atlanta
Have a Blessed Day
Dave and Barbara
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